Talk:Moose's Tooth Pub & Pizzeria

Assessment for WP:ALASKA

I've revised the assessment for WikiProject Alaska as follows:

Importance

Top importance for Alaska is typically reserved for the main article, sub-articles of equivalent broad scope, the incumbent governor, and topics which bring/brought broad international attention to Alaska such as Denali, Klondike Gold Rush, 1964 Alaska earthquake and Exxon Valdez oil spill. This topic falls far short of meeting that standard. It could arguably be assessed as mid importance, though for the most part it's a topic more of local significance, which are typically assessed as low importance.

Quality

I looked at this article for the first time today on a real computer, as opposed to my phone, and couldn't believe how skimpy it is. I can only guess that it was assessed as C class because it contains X number of references and/or X number of subject headers. It almost resembles another URL dumping ground, where the reader has to click on the links and go to some other website in order to get the real information on the subject. Oh yeah, it also dwells on few aspects of the subject and contains tons of obvious holes. To elaborate:

• One or more of the principals of the establishment are mountain climbers, and the place was named for the mountain. Funny that the talk page of that article contains a discussion about how this Moose's Tooth is non-notable. Anyway, from a news story quoted on the Bear Tooth website: "Wedged in an awkward spot where the Old Seward dead-ends near the New Seward, many restaurants have failed there, including Luigi’s Pizza, which went under only months before Hancock and Jones signed the $2,700-a-month lease." They have it right about the location. A BBQ joint was located in that building for at least a decade, with the running joke being "How does this place stay in business? There's never any customers.". The location hasn't worked against them, however.
• The Bear Tooth was also named for a mountain (its website states as follows: "the Bear Tooth Peak also happens to be the mountain right next to Moose’s Tooth Peak in the Alaska Range."). The article also misses when it comes to this venue's history, as it's effectively an amalgamation of two historic theaters. The Bear Tooth building originally housed the Denali Theatre, built in 1965 to replace the original theater, which collapsed along with several blocks of Fourth Avenue during the 1964 earthquake (photo here, which shows the marquee resting at sidewalk level). The Denali was one of the sort of older, single-screen theaters acquired and subsequently divested by large corporate owners because they had become an anachronism. The other part of the equation was the Capri Cinema, located in a Tudor Road strip mall across from the dog mushing track and the old borough building, another "art house cinema" which screened a lot of porn to actually pay the bills. Rand Thornsley, the Capri's owner, folded that business and joined this team as their "film guy". Far as I know, he's still in that position, but it's unclear to me whether or not he has a piece of the action.
• Both the Moose's Tooth and the Bear Tooth are popular concert venues. Larger-scale concerts are held in the Moose's Tooth parking lot. It's been many years since I've had a reason to spend time in Anchorage, but I saw The String Cheese Incident, Matisyahu and Wilco there over consecutive years during the previous decade. Smaller-scale concerts, including Alaskan artists, are typically held at the Bear Tooth; the last such concert I saw there was Victor Wooten, again quite a few years ago. Many acts were booked for back-to-back shows at the Moose's Tooth and the Blue Loon in Fairbanks, but that hasn't always worked out. Cake came to the Loon in 2007, played a 40-minute set, then didn't play Fairbanks when they came back to Alaska in 2010. Other artists have done likewise or similar. That much is known fact; the reasons why would probably amount to BLP-violating speculation, especially given that the Loon's owner has a Wikipedia article and the amount of money he spends on advertising means that no "reliable source" would go near addressing problems with that venue should they exist.

Hope this helps with any efforts to improve the article. RadioKAOS / Talk to me, Billy / Transmissions 01:00, 16 September 2015 (UTC)

Oh yeah, I totally forgot about the brewpub aspect of the business, too. I think Midnight Sun or similar brewed their beer for them in the early years, but now they have their own brewing operation. When I was last in Anchorage, the Bear Tooth held monthly "First Tap" events where they introduce a new variety of beer, usually accompanied by live music. Goldstream Valley Stout with Gangly Moose and Sweating Honey? This Goldstream Valley boy still has very fond memories of that night. If Fairbanks had a place like this close by (it's a $70–80 cab ride out to Silver Gulch and back), I likely wouldn't have quit drinking. Before this turns into too much of a tangent, I'm pretty sure that they still do First Tap, and in general sell their own brands of beer at both locations. RadioKAOS / Talk to me, Billy / Transmissions 02:00, 17 September 2015 (UTC)